


Who is The Blind Banker?

by ladyoftheskulls



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-27
Updated: 2014-09-27
Packaged: 2018-02-19 01:13:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2368925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyoftheskulls/pseuds/ladyoftheskulls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A mini-meta about an under-appreciated episode.  Slight Johnlock overtones but slash goggles optional.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who is The Blind Banker?

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Ariane DeVere, whose transcripts are invaluable (and also full of hilarious transcriber comments) and whose transcript of _[The Blind Banker](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/45111.html)_ I referred to for quotes and to check details!
> 
> Also posted on my Tumblr at http://f0xeg1rl.tumblr.com/post/98007841751/who-is-the-blind-banker

I was thinking about about the name of this episode, because it seemed a bit strange to me. I can’t detect any strong link to ACD canon: bankers and blind men feature in a few stories, but not together as far as I can recall, and there isn’t any story title on which it seems to be based, whereas every other episode title so far has had some link to canon — the two that aren’t directly riffing on ACD titles are The Great Game (a term used by fans of ACD Holmes to describe their own meta-generating activities) and The Reichenbach Fall (obvious). Where, then, did this episode title come from and why?

The obvious textual answer is that it refers to the portrait of the banker who is ‘blinded’ by the yellow symbol spray-painted across his eyes. Who is he and what is the significance of his blindness? Well, he’s some important bloke at the bank, but he’s not at all important to us or to the story (I couldn’t even remember his full name or exact position without looking it up). And although the spraypaint across the eyes could be taken as some sort of threat to him or to the bank directly, it fairly quickly turns out not to be the case. So why name the entire episode after him?

We might think that it could refer subtextually to Sebastian: he’s a banker, and we might argue that he is wilfully blind to the nature of the events going on under his nose — for example, he tries to brush Sherlock and John off when the pair interrupt his business dinner to report their findings, and he refuses to believe it’s a murder rather than a suicide. We could also say that he’s blind to Sherlock’s true value, treating him with contempt and his skills like a party trick. This is a bit more important than Sir William Shad, as it gives us insight into Sherlock’s backstory and character, but still isn’t crucial to the overall story.

But someone else is subtextually indicated as a ‘banker’ within the episode, and (I’m sure this comes as no surprise) it’s John. We see him doing all sorts of things associated with money and banking during the episode, such as:

\- trying to use the chip and pin machine

\- being given Sherlock’s bank card

\- poring over the bills

\- worrying about getting a job

\- taking the cheque for the advance fee from Seb

\- checking the prices in the Lucky Cat

\- collecting the rest of the fee at the end of the episode.

In other words, John is effectively Sherlock’s banker — a possible reference here to ACD-canon; I seem to recall a scene where Holmes has sequestered Watson’s cheque-book for some reason, just can’t remember in which story. This also makes me think of the line from Othello, “Thou… who has held my purse / As though the strings were thine” — being someone’s banker in this sense denotes a close personal relationship.

The question then is: to what is he blind? And I think the answer indicated is: to that relationship — to Sherlock, to who he is, what he’s doing, how he thinks — and perhaps also how he feels about John. For example:

\- John is completely unaware that while he’s been at Tesco, Sherlock has been fighting for his life against the intruder with the sword

\- the well-known “friend” / “colleague” line (and I don’t think John sees how Sherlock reacts)

\- again, John not believing the deduction about the murder not being a suicide and Sherlock’s reaction to this — he is more hurt by John’s lack of faith in him than John realises

\- the miscommunication over John’s ‘date’ (“That’s what I was suggesting.” “No it wasn’t… at least I hope not.”)

\- Sherlock is inside Soo Lin’s flat being half-strangled; John just thinks he’s being a prat and has absolutely no idea

\- I think Sherlock is jealous of Sarah (not necessarily sexually, but jealous of the attention John gives her) and again, John has no clue

Thus, ‘The Blind Banker’ refers to the fact that in this, their second episode together, the relationship between John and Sherlock is developing, and that John is blind to this. But by the end of the episode, he starts to see [cue faint strains of Amazing Grace]: he accepts Sherlock’s deductions and asks how he solved it, showing his admiration; he helps to convince Sebastian (who was also ‘blind’) of the accuracy of Sherlock’s deduction about the killer climbing in through the window — and in the penultimate scene, he sees how Sherlock feels (and that he has feelings): “You mind, don’t you?”

This, then, lays the groundwork for the further complex development and exploration of their relationship over subsequent episodes. But I think there’s still plenty that John doesn’t yet see…


End file.
